Am I in Montana??

Hello everyone! I am trying to get better at writing more regularly on the blog. But once again this week has been full of adventures and laughter so it has taken me all the way to Sunday write this post. This week I did a lot of things around the town that I live in, Chambéry. My friend Nora and I made a check list of things to see such as the Museum and the Castle. On Wednesday, I walked with a group of people to a house that Jean-Jacques Rousseau lived at for a while. It was a very nice, long walk up a hill but peace greeted us when we walked through the house and the gardens. Again, I got to have some deep conversations with friends. It was here that I realized how much the Bible is really important to me and how I really LIKE reading the Bible. I really enjoy this place in Chambéry and I hope to walk there a few more times before I leave. Here is a photo of the place.

Friday was a national holiday, Fête de la musique. This holiday is equivalent to a music festival but on a larger scale. Every village, town, and city showcases their local talent on the streets. So around 7 I left my apartment with a few girls and we just walked around till like 11:30 listening to all types of music. There was rock and roll, blues, American classics, salsa dancing, drumming, and much more. It was a great evening full of laughter. This is the second time I got to celebrate this holiday in France. The last time I got to see it was when I was in Paris with my classmates from high school.

This Saturday I got to make a day trip to Italy! It took about three hours on bus to get to Turino. It was really nice to be in Italy again. I really forgot how I like Italy but how much I hate not knowing how to speak the language of a country. While I was there I saw many beautiful churches and buildings while walking around. I made it to the Egyptian Museum that explained tons of Egyptian history such as religious customs and every day life. I got to see some real mummies which was creepy! There were a few times when I just had to pray that the Holy Spirit would be in the room because of all the statues of gods that surrounded me made me feel at ease. I was just hoping and praying that the place would stir up some emotions towards God. Next we made our way to the Museum of the Shroud. You may not know what the Shroud is but it is some believed to be evidence of Jesus Christ. It has been around since the 15th century in the Catholic church. I learned a lot about it and saw some pretty famous replicas because the real thing is only shown to the public every ten years or so. I would explain more but its just to hard to do over writing. A cool fact though is that the Shroud was given to the Savoie family while they were living in Chambéry (the town I live in). It was kept in the chapel at the castle in Chambéry and this is where the Shroud got most of its damage by a fire that started. It was very cool to learn this fact! Here are some photos of the day.

So on Sunday I wake up all ready to go hiking up to the Croix de Nivolet which is a cross on top of a mountain that is visible from all of Chambéry. I have been looking forward to this for a long time but then it gets postponed to a few hours later because the weather is kinda icky. The clouds were covering all of the mountain so we wouldn’t be able to see the cross or any views. So my friend Kayla and I decided to go to church even though we would get there late and need to leave a bit early. What a great turn of events. Church was once again amazing and God opened my eyes and heart to more new things. After church was over, we ended taking a gamble on the weather and went up to the cross. The hike was about an hour to the cross and the whole time it was complete clouds with a clearing every once and a while. But when we got up there and after blowing at the clouds a few times, it cleared up and we got an amazing view of the area below. You could see lakes and cities and other mountains. Dare I say it again, but I felt like I was in Montana (except way more population). Then we went to the first ski resort ever in the Alpes, Le Revard. It was full of more beautiful views!! Here are a few photos from this day.

It was a great week and I have lots more ahead of me! I hope all is well with everyone and thank you for following me!